First of a short group of three services under the title of Monsters, where we will be tackling difficult topics of Envy, Anger and Greed. Three areas that are often hidden Monsters inside us that we hide from each other and often deny even to ourselves.
After a short introduction JJ lead us through some readings and quotes about the topic of envy (slides available here) and asking people to share in groups their thoughts and examples of this. This was followed by an example of the world portrayal of Envy using the Nicklback video for Rockstar. Gordon followed this by giving away an ipod and showing us that our issues of envy isn’t really with the people that are blessed – our issue is with the person who gave out the blessings and didn’t give them to us…
Dan 4:35, 1 Chron 29:12
Jenny then followed this with by telling us that as God’s children, we’re called to be like our Father. The bible says God is love… and has this to say about love: “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.” 1 Cor. 13:4-6
We cannot love if we have envy lurking in our hearts. So how can we root it out?
- Embrace the truth that we think God owes us….
- Confess our envy to somebody….
- Make it your habit to celebrate the success of others….
Celebration cleanses our hearts of envy, so we then moved into a time of celebration and prayer ministry.
There was a break during the sung worship for a second short meditation led by JJ on the topic of celebration – slides available here.
The first part of the service was recorded and the mp3 is available from the St Silas web pages. More photos here.
Deeper 